The Nymph Wants to be Plundered - Chapter 230

Had he misjudged? Wait… now that he thought about it, Asar had been the only one to arbitrarily think of him as a womanizer. That was right. As for being dismissed from the marquisate, keeping quiet about it and just saying he’d been invested by the Heliotrope Knights wouldn’t have been a lie. Seeing how he unhesitatingly mentioned facts unfavorable to his own record, he might have been brutally honest and knightly.

Just as he was about to regret whether he’d been overly sensitive, his attendant spoke up with a thoroughly satisfied expression.

“When I asked that knight where he was going, his answer was quite something.”

“What did he say?”

He was pleased, thinking he might be able to track the Imperial knight’s movements even now, but what came out was absurd.

“He said he’d go anywhere the young lady he was carrying wanted to go. Hahaha, it really gave me goosebumps, but that young lady couldn’t answer until the very end. She must be shy.”

“…Is that all?”

“Huh? Your Highness, how could I tactlessly intrude between a couple and keep pressing them with questions?”

“Enough! Let’s return to the royal palace.”

Asar felt like letting out a deep sigh. Lured by that damned village chief’s words, he’d come all the way to this backwater village, wasted time for nothing, and lost a precious knight due to a moment’s hesitation…

Yet while urging on the carriage heading toward Dendra village, he wondered if he might still be able to catch their movements since they’d already left. With two people on an ordinary horse instead of just one, it would be difficult to gallop quickly.

‘Damn it. Still, a horse is faster than a carriage. Tsk, it’s probably too late. If I was going to stop him, I should have asked earlier whether he was interested in life in the kingdom. Trying to catch him now would only drive up the contract terms, wouldn’t it? Damn!’

Word that a precious prince had come this far must have already spread, as the village chief’s daughter and several other residents had come out and were busy peering in this direction. Since Asar had no desire to become someone’s spectacle even here, he hastened his steps.

“Let’s go.”

“Hmm!”

After the prince’s carriage door closed, the knight from the royal palace approached the coachman and casually asked,

“Did you see which direction that knight went on horseback earlier?”

“Yes, he didn’t take this road that goes straight to Dendra village, but headed toward the lower road. That way gets cut off in the middle, so he’ll have to either go over the grass or come back out to the main road.”

“Hmm…”

The royal knight glanced sideways at the narrow, winding path that was cramped even for one person to pass through.

He was well aware that the prince had nearly been tempted by that fellow who claimed to be an Imperial knight. He had absolutely no intention of standing by and watching as a knight of unclear identity casually entered the side of Asar, who might soon become king. He couldn’t let a rolling stone knock out the embedded stone!

Though they had only faced each other briefly, that self-proclaimed Imperial knight had made him think he might actually be genuine. He was on a completely different level from those who only dressed up their outward appearance neatly.

His upright posture and straight gait were without excess, his gaze was calm, and even while speaking of his own difficult circumstances, not a trace of emotion was mixed in. He didn’t know about swords since they hadn’t crossed them, but there was such a thing as intuition, wasn’t there? The fellow looked strong. He appeared to be in his early to mid-twenties at most, but he didn’t give off an easy impression, so his skills were…

It would be better to cleanly eliminate him before things got started. Having made up his mind, the knight said simply,

“Since His Highness is tired, don’t drive the carriage too fast. There’s plenty of time until we return, so it’s fine. Let’s depart.”

“Yes.”

Please let them pass through that road quickly so we don’t encounter each other.

With a cold smile, the royal knight loosened his reins considerably and began escorting the prince’s carriage. It was a day in early summer when the sunlight was particularly warm.